Wout van Aert on doping topic: "I don’t like it that we keep on having to reply to this"

As was his teammate Jonas Vingegaard during yesterday's press conference after the stage 20 time-trial in which the duo finished first and second, Wout van Aert was asked about the subject of doping.

"It’s such a shit question, it comes back every year. Because we’re performing at this level, we have to defend ourselves, I don’t get it," he told the media. After taking three stage wins, aswell as the points classification and countless other strong results throughout the race, it comes as a natural question after the sport's complicated past with illegal substances.

The Belgian rider has responded to the questions put on him regarding it: "We work super hard for this. Cycling has changed. I don’t like it that we keep on having to reply to this. We have to pass controls every moment of the year, not only at the Tour de France, also at our homes".

With the rise of incredibly talented and versatile riders such as Tadej Pogacar, van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel, doubts also arise from a small section of cycling's fanbase who have experienced in the past several disappointing situations. Jumbo-Visma have stood their ground throughout the whole race however, being vocal on the topic and direct with their answers on it.

"We’re just training for it. If you just look through our team, how we’ve developed through these years, it hasn’t come from nowhere," van Aert argued.